Five Ounces of Pain has also confirmed that middleweight Jason “Dooms” Day is no longer a member of the UFC roster. It is unclear whether Day was released following his first round TKO loss to Kendall Grove last month at UFC 96 or if he had become a free agent with no attempt made to re-sign him.

Day, a Canadian fighter with a 17-8 record was signed by the UFC following a controversial split decision victory over David Loiseau last February during a Hardcore Championship Fighting event. He made his Octagon debut at UFC 83 last April, where he TKO’d Alan Belcher at 3:58 of round 1.

Following the strong outing vs. Belcher, UFC officials put Day in a co-headlining roll against Michael Bisping during last June’s UFC 85 event at the O2 Arena in London, England. Bisping was able to TKO Day at 3:42 of round 1. Day then lost his second consecutive UFC bout vs. Grove and saw his career record with the promotion fall to a disappointing 1-2.

While not confirmed, Day’s first fight since departing the UFC could take place at a yet-to-be announced event slated to take place next month in California.

Day and Burkman are a part of a list of departures from the UFC roster in recent months that also includes Antonio Mendes and Jeremy Horn.

Grove, the middleweight winner from the third season of The Ultimate Fighter is just 1-2 in his last three fights and likely needs a win tonight to remain employed by the UFC. Does he have a shot at winning? Continue reading our fight-by-fight preview of UFC 96 and find out what we think.

Kendall Grove (9-5) vs. Jason Day (17-7)

If the temptation of Vegas are so great and interferes with a fighter’s career, then why do so many fighters train there?

Alright, having been to Sin City nearly 20 times in my life, that’s an easy question to answer. Only being young once creates the conundrum for athlete: do I invest my time living the life, or do I fully commit to athletic excellence?

In MMA, there is a term known as “The MMA Lifestyle,” which consists of working hard but also playing hard. For Kendall Grove, he has publicly admitted that temptation got in the way of his career.

After winning becoming the middleweight winner of the third season of The Ultimate Fighter, Grove showed rapid signs of improvement every time he took to the cage. But then he suffered back-to-back upset first round knockouts against Patrick Cote and Jorge Rivera and his career went spiraling out of control.

A split decision win in the main event of the TUF 7 finale this past June against the late Evan Tanner likely saved his UFC career, but Grove can ill-afford to drop the ball against Jason Day.

Soon after the win over Tanner, Grove requested an extended layoff from fighting in anticipation of the birth of his first child. Hopefully the live changing experience will keep Grove away from partying and keep him focused on fighting.

While not as good as Cote, Day is certainly better than Rivera and has the ability needed to reduce Grove’s record to 1-3 in his last four fights. However, Grove has significantly better submissions and his 6’6” height gives him a ridiculous reach advantage when it comes to the standup aspect of the fight.

Like Grove, Day has not fought since June due to injury. Currently sporting a lifetime record of 1-1 in the UFC, the Canadian fighter made a strong Octagon debut last April at UFC 83 after scoring a first round TKO over Alan Belcher. However, he looked completely overmatched against Michael Bisping at UFC 85, losing via first round TKO.

Day won’t be overmatched vs. Grove, however, if Grove brings his A-game, he should have little trouble walking away with his arm raised.

Prediction: Grove via unanimous decision.

The popular culture website 411Mania.com was the first site to report the matchup, with Grove’s attorney, Jill Baxter, quoted as the source.

Grove has been idle since the TUF 7 finale in large part because of the birth of his first child. During his most recent fight, the Hawaiian native recorded a split decision victory over the late Evan Tanner. The victory snapped a two fight losing streak.

Grove is 9-5 lifetime as a professional and 4-2 lifetime in the UFC with notable wins over Ed Herman, Chris Price, and Alan Belcher along with notable knockout losses against Patrick Cote and Jorge Rivera.

Like Grove, Day has also not fought since June. He had been scheduled to fight Jason Lambert at UFC 88 this past September but was forced to withdraw from the bout due to an injured elbow that required surgery.

The Canadian fighter is 17-7 overall and 1-1 lifetime in the UFC. He debuted for the promotion at UFC 83 this past April, where he TKO’d Alan Belcher in round 1. The victory was proceeded by a first round TKO loss to Michael Bisping during UFC 85 this past June.

Sherdog.com is now reporting that Day’s replacement will be fellow Canadian Jason “The Athlete” MacDonald.

MacDonald, a native of Pictou County, Nova Scotia, possesses a UFC record of 4-3 with victories over Ed Herman, Chris Leben, Rory Singer, and Joe Doerksen. MacDonald’s most recent outing came at UFC 87: Seek and Destroy where he fell victim to the ground game of Demian Maia after three grueling rounds.

Jason Lambert is looking to test his hand at 185 pounds after spending the majority of his career in the light heavyweight division. Lambert has gone 4-3 in the UFC with victories over Renato “Babalu” Sobral, Branden Lee Hinkle, Terry Martin, and Rob MacDonald.

UFC 88: Breakthrough is scheduled for Saturday, September 6, 2008 at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. The card will be headlined by a light heavyweight bout featuring former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell and Rashad Evans.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com confirmed the news today while speaking with Matt Stansell, one of Lambert’s managers with the North County Fight Club.

Lambert has an overall MMA record of 23-8 and a career UFC record of 4-3. He started in the UFC with an undefeated record of 3-0 with wins over Terry Martin, Branden Lee Hinkle, and Rob MacDonald before losing to Rashad Evans at UFC 63.

Lambert rebounded from the loss against Evans with an upset knockout over Renato “Babalu” Sobral during UFC 68 but currently finds himself in the midst of a two-fight losing streak. His most recent loss took place against Luiz Cane at UFC 85 this past June.

Day made his UFC debut at UFC 83 this past April following a controversial decision win over David Loiseau while fighting for the now-defunct Hardcore Championship Fighting promotion. Considered the underdog at UFC 83 against Alan Belcher, Day managed to pull off another upset by finishing him with a TKO at 3:58 of round 1.

Day returned to the Octagon in June at UFC 85 in a featured contest vs. Michael Bisping, losing via TKO at 3:42 of round 1.

UFC 88 is scheduled to be headlined by a light heavyweight bout between Rashad Evans and Chuck Liddell. Rich Franklin is also scheduled to return to the light heavyweight division in another featured bout vs. Matt Hamill. Other main card bouts include Nate Marquardt vs. Martin Kampmann (just officially announced by the UFC this morning), Dan Henderson vs. Rousimar Palhares, and Karo Parisyan vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida.

Currently expected for the undercard in addition to the Lambert vs. Day fight are bouts between Matt Brown vs. Dong Hyun Kim, Kurt Pellegrino vs. Thiago Tavares, Roan Carneiro vs. Ryo Chonan, and Tim Boetsch vs. James Lee.

EliteXC’s next ShoXC event has been scheduled for August 15 at the Table Mountain Casino in Friant, Calif., located just outside of Fresno.

The news was confirmed to FiveOuncesOfPain.com earlier this afternoon by EliteXC Vice President Jared Shaw.

According to Shaw, already scheduled for the card is a rematch between light heavyweight fighters Poai Suganuma and Jared Hamman. The two fought previously at the Table Mountain Casino on April 5. Hamman suffered his first loss as a pro after being rocked by a flying knee delivered by Suganuma. The fight was stopped amidst a chorus of boos, with many Hamman supporters feeling that the fight was halted early.

In addition to Suganuma vs. Hamman II, Shaw indicated that striking specialist Cyrille Diabate will make his EliteXC debut in a light heavyweight encounter against ShoXC veteran Jaime Fletcher.

Another high-profile debut is planned, with standout welterweight Judoka Hector Lombard scheduled for the card as well. Shaw indicated that EliteXC has a specific opponent in mind and that the promotion is in the process of finalizing a contract with the proposed fighter.

Two other matches are scheduled for the televised portion of the show as well, with female fighter Debi Purcell considered a likely candidate to be featured in one of the bouts

Mauro Ranallo was the first to break the story earlier this week on his Fight Network Radio program heard Monday through Friday on Sirius Satellite Radio.

According to sources, the outdoor event was postponed when the venue was unable to be secured. It is believed that EliteXC officials are looking to re-schedule the event.

The show was supposed to feature striking specialist Cyrille Diabate and Judoka Hector Lombard making their EliteXC debuts in separate bouts. King of the Cage middleweight champion Keith Berry had also been scheduled to defend his title against Reggie Orr.

The news was first reported by our friends at MMAjunkie.com.

The tentative card for the outdoor show also promises to offer the debuts of two recent EliteXC signings, middleweights Cyrille Diabate and Hector Lombard.

Diabate, one of the best pure strikers in MMA, is slated to take on Jaime Fletcher in a featured bout on the card. Meanwhile, Lombard, a standout Judoka from Cuba, does not yet have an opponent.

Also, in a first for ShoXC, a King of the Cage title will be defended on the card. Current KOTC middleweight champ Keith Barry will square off against Reggie Orr. You might remember Orr from the current season of “The Ultimate Fighter“, as he was chosen to be a part of the show’s 32-member cast. However, he was unable to advance into the TUF mansion and the official cast of 16 after he was defeated in a qualifying match.

According to Junkie, Fabricio Camoes and Debi Purcell are also slated for the card as well against yet to be determined opponents. Purcell had been scheduled to take on Carina Damm in a 130 pound bout, but Damm was removed from the card after the California State Athletic Commission announced that she had recently tested positive for steroids. Junkie is quoting EliteXC Vice President Jared Shaw as indicating that Purcell could have to fight a replacement that is actually tougher than Damm.

• Po’ai Suganuma TKO (strikes) over Jared Hamman at 0:15 of round1
• Fabricio Camoes KO over Joe Camacho at 3:30 of round 1
• Shayna Baszler submission (neck crank) over Keiko Tamai at 2:05 of round 1
• Giva Santana submission (armbar) over Matt Lucas at 4:49 of round 1
• Bao Quach KO over Doug Evans at 0:55 of round 1

All of the fights tonight ended in quick and decisive fashion. Between this show, the 3/21 ShoXC, and then last week’s EliteXC/Strikeforce show in San Jose, there’s been a lot of early finishes on EliteXC promoted shows.

Suganuma stunned Hamman with a punch and then nailed a flying knee that took Hamman off his feet and into the cage in a downed position. Suganuma went in for the kill but the referee stopped it. Hamman claimed he was never out and many people in the crowd felt it was an early stoppage. During the post-fight interview, both the idea of a rematch with both fighters was brought up and both seemed open to the idea (although I’d love to see Sugnuma fight on the June 14 Hawaii show against Rafael Feijao).

The fighter who impressed me the most tonight was Baszler. She is now 3-0 in ShoXC and looks to be putting great effort into making her fights as exciting as possible and really showing personality in her interviews. She hit a nice German suplex on Tamai that was preceded by a knee to the face. And the neck crank was nasty; Tamai tapped almost immediately.

After the fight, Baszler proclaimed herself as the woman to beat in the EliteXC female division and even name-dropped Tara LaRosa, proclaiming that she’d like for the two of them to fight. A year ago I would have said LaRosa would be the heavy favorite in that fight but Baszler looks greatly improved with each bout and now I’m not sure who’d win. Regardless of who would be favored going in, I think it would be a tremendous fight and good for female MMA.

Quick note: both Tamai and Baszler weighed in under the 140 lbs. weight limit for their fight.

I also felt it was another strong night for the commentating team of Mauro Ranallo and Stephen Quadros. The two really excel in the ShoXC format. Quadros was especially on point tonight. There was also some good storytelling that added context to some of the fights.

Quach’s win was impressive but even more so when you take into account that he accepted the fight on less than a week’s notice. He was a late replacement for Wilson Reis. Being affiliated with the same school as Wilson, I was disappointed not to see him fight but he’ll be back. I would think the May 31 CBS undercard would be a good fit for him considering that he’s a Philadelphia-based fighter and a lot of his fans would be more than willing to make the trip up to Newark, N.J. to see him.

Here’s a quick preview of what you can look forward to.

* Po’ai Suganuma (8-1) vs. Jared Hamman (10-0)

This fight will feature two light heavyweight prospects with good records trying to move up the ladder. Both are capable of competing on EliteXC shows but in order to make the move, they need to win here.

Suganuma, who trains with B.J. Penn, has just one loss on his record while Hamman is undefeated. Hamman, a former college football player, is an outstanding athlete and was impressive during his ShoXC debut this past October when he submitted a then-undefeated Aaron Rosa in round 2.

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Reis had been scheduled to fight UFC veteran Doug Evans. The reason for Reis’ departure from the card has not been disclosed. He made his ShoXC debut on January 25 in Atlantic City, submitting Zach Makovsky in impressive fashion at 1:15 of round 2.

Evans is now set to face Team Oyama fighter Bao Quach. Quach also made his debut on the Jan. 25 show, where recorded a unanimous decision victory over Bobby McMaster.

Tomorrow night’s scheduled card, which has a special start time of 11:30 p.m. ET, is now as follows:

• Jared Hamman vs. Po’ai Suganuma
• Fabricio Camoes vs. Joe Camacho
• Shayna Baszler vs. Keiko “Tama Chan” Tamai
• Matt Lucas vs. Giva Santana
• Doug Evans vs. Bao Quach

When: March 21st, 2008

Where: Chumash Casino, Santa Ynez, CA

• Thomas Denny def. Malaipet via disqualification (illegal strikes)

• Conor Heun def. Marlon Mathias via unanimous decision

• Jaime Fletcher def. Aaron Rosa via unanimous decision

• Shane Del Rosario def. Analu Brash via TKO (strikes) 3:18 of round one

• Mark Oshiro def. Chris Cariaso via TKO (strikes) at 2:38 of round one

• Brandon Tarn def. Jason Williams via submission (rear naked choke) at 1:05 of round two

• Devin Howard def. Mark Kempthorne via submission (rear naked choke) at 2:53 of round one

• Lyle Beerbohm def. Vince Guzman via submission (rear naked choke) at 3:26 of round two

• Kenny Johnson def. Michael Penafiel via unanimous decision

• Steve Gable def. Eric Jones via TKO (strikes) at 2:47 of round one

What: ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series
When: March 21 ’08 @ 11 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the west coast)
Where: Santa Ynez, CA; Chumash Casino
Watch: SHOWTIME

Here’s the latest on the ShoXC card:

Televised
• Main Event: 155lbs: Malaipet vs. Thomas “Wildman” Denny
• 205 lbs: Jaime Fletcher vs. Aaron Rosa
• Marlon Mathias vs. Conor Heun
• Heavyweight: Shane del Rosario vs. Analu Brash
• 135 lbs: Chris Cariaso vs. Mark Oshiro

Non-Televised

• 160 lbs: Vince Guzman vs. Lyle Beerbohm
• 170 lbs: Devin Howard vs. Mark Kempthorne
• Heavyweight: Brandon Tarn vs. Jason Williams
• 170 lbs: Eric Jones vs. Steve Gable
• 170 lbs: Kenny “The Poet’’ Johnson vs. Michael Penafiel

UPDATE: click here for event results!

Check out more ShoXC content on FiveOuncesofPain.com

A light heavyweight bout featuring Jaime Fletcher (8-3) taking on former Team Punishment member Aaron Rosa (10-1) has been added to the televised portion of Friday’s ShoXC card on SHOWTIME (11 p.m. ET), ProElite.com (SamCaplan.ProElite.com) has learned.

The event will emanate from the Chumash Hotel & Casino in Santa Ynez, Calif.

The 205 pound clash was added as a late replacement for a female MMA match that was to have seen Chute Boxe Academy fighter Cris Cyborg squad off against Jen Case.

The Cyborg vs. Case bout was canceled in part because Cyborg had visa issues and wasn’t expected to be able to gain entry into the United States in time for the show. She could be added to a ShoXC event scheduled for the near future.

Cyborg, who is an unblemished 4-0, is the wife of Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos.

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According to the Table Mountain Casino website, a poster for the event indicates that a match between light heavyweights Jared Hamman vs. Poai Suganuma is slated to serve as the featured bout on the card.

The rest of the card is comprised of matches between Giva Santana vs. Matt Lucas, Fabricio Camoes vs. Joe Camacho, and Wilson Reis vs. Doug Evans.

A fifth match featuring Shayna Baszler vs. a yet to be determined opponent is also listed as well.

Five other matches during the non-televised portion of the show are also being advertised with the undercard scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. PT. SHOWTIME’s telecast will begin at 11 p.m. ET and 8 p.m. local time.

The event, to be televised on SHOWTIME, will feature a main event involving Muay Thai sensation Malaipet taking on King of the Cage veteran Thomas “Wildman” Denny.

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FiveOuncesOfPain.com (www.FiveOuncesOfPain.com) has also learned that a match between Shane DelRosario and Jon Murphy is no longer scheduled. DelRosario is still slated to compete during the televised portion of the show.

The bout will be contested at 140 pounds. A location for the event has not been finalized but the card will most likely take place in California.

Reis, 3-0, made his debut for the promotion on January 25 in Atlantic City at the Trump Taj Mahal, where he recorded a dominant victory over former Division I wrestler Zach Makovsky. Reis, who trains out of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu United in Jenkintown, PA under Lloyd Irvin black belt Jared Weiner, submitted Makovsky at 1:15 of round 2.

Reis’ previous wins took place in Ed Hsu’s Combat in the Cage promotion where he defeated Baba Shegeyasu via unanimous decision in his pro debut on July 28 and submitted Diego Jimenez at 2:00 of round 1 on October 26.

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Above all else, I see a real need for the promotion to create a defined developmental program so that they can better utilize prospects and bring them along in a more controlled environment. One issue I have with EliteXC is that they’ve had some good prospects appear on their shows that they weren’t able to retain. Scott Jorgenson fought on the first ShoXC and looked great. In September, Justin Buchholz made a statement with a strong victory on the undercard of EliteXC’s event in Hawaii. Well, Buchholz fought for the UFC at UFN 12 while Jorgenson will make his WEC debut in February. Those kinds of things can’t happen. Time is money. Looking at the situation as if I were strictly a businessman, if EliteXC puts a fighter on its airwaves then they have to retain the contractual option of being able to use that fighter again. Exposure is everything for an undiscovered fighter and when you give a fighter exposure you open up a lot of doors for him. You can’t help your competition discover talent like that. Even if they aren’t watching the show the fighter still has the ability to take the video and send it to matchmakers.

I think there’s a great way to prevent that situation from happening again while at the same time utilizing the King of the Cage, ICON Sport, and Cage Rage acquisitions.  First, any fighter who appears on ShoXC should have to sign a basic one-fight EliteXC contract with options for up to two more fights. After their first ShoXC fight, the option either gets picked up or declined. Now, if a fighter really stands out they should be signed to an exclusive six fight split contract. It really isn’t in a fighter’s best interest to give up exclusivety early in their career so offer them a retention bonus. Offering a bonus could change the way a fighter feels about committing to six fights. The split aspect of the contract is that the first three fights are to take place in a developmental promotion such as ShoXC, KOTC, ICON Sport, or Cage Rage. They should even leave open the option of allowing a fighter, with permission, to compete outside of the contract for local promotions. The contracts should also protect the fighter by stipulating that they must be offered the first three fights within a 10 month span and if they aren’t they will still be compensated for three fights regardless. After the three developmental contract elapses, an option will once again come up. EliteXC either has to promote them to EliteXC shows, assuring them even more exposure and greater compensation, or grant them a full release.

Travel costs add up so why not assign fighters on developmental contracts to different territories? King of the Cage is based on California but has working agreements with local promotions all over the country. Assign a fighter to the promotion closest to where he trains. KOTC doesn’t have a presence in the Northeast portion of the U.S., which is still an untapped region for up and coming fighters. But instead of acquiring another promotion, why not just sign a deal with an existing local promoter that allows for EliteXC to assign fighters?

Such a developmental structure like the one outlined here gives EliteXC contractual control of the fighters that appear on their cards yet still gives them the ability to develop fighters slowly rather than being forced to put them in situations they might not be ready for.

One more thing, I hope the strong undercard performances by some of the fighters open more doors for a lot of good fighters on the East Coast who aren’t getting opportunities right now because of a lack of exposure. It just seems like it’s the fighters from the west and midwest that get all the breaks. I’m not saying that they don’t deserve them and that the talent isn’t legit. My point is that the talent out here is legit too. If a fighter from Gladiator Challenge or King of the Cage show gets a shot on a big show and does well, it seems like promoters go over his record and sign anyone who performed well against him. But in the Northeast, it’s hard enough for fighters to get on a big show so that they can call more attention fellow fighters from their area.

I also thought the whole event went over great in A.C. They did good attendance considering they were late in announcing and promoting the show. Big leave MMA in A.C. seems like a natural fit and I’d like to see more of it. Unfortunately, politics from some of the local promotions, politics within the State Athletic Control Board, and costs to run a show because of the union agreement really make it tough and those are the reasons why you don’t see many major shows in Jersey. There’s nothing you can do about the unions but hopefully a recent change within the leadership of the control board will have a positive effect.

Onto the matches…

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By now you’ve either seen ShoXC or read a live blog or post-fight results so I’m not going to try and recap the blow-by-blow of each fight. And normally when I do my recaps, I spend a lot of time critiquing the telecast. However, since I attended the show live I will have to abstain from making specific observations about the television production aspect.

Last night was the first time I attended a EliteXC/ShoXC event live so I will give my perspective on how the live aspect of the show was executed in comparison to other major national shows I’ve attended such as the UFC, IFL, and BodogFIGHT. Also, being a Philadelphian, I will also try to provide insights about the fights from the perspective of someone who has seen quite a few of the guys on last night’s show compete on smaller shows over the course of the last year.

Because my review is so long, I’ve decided to break it down into two parts. Part I will be my thoughts of the show overall and Part II will be my thoughts on the fights and the fighters.

Overall, I felt the the show went well. It was well organized and was executed without any major hiccups from what I saw. The pacing was really good and the matchmaking was solid because the fights themselves provided a lot of action.

When trying to figure out why the show went off so well, the first thing that came to mind was staffing and leadership. When I went to the Bodog show in Trenton this past July I was surprised by the lack of direction in the back. This wasn’t the case with what I saw last night. If I had had any problems with anything the problem for me wouldn’t have been trying to find someone I could go to but trying to figure out WHICH person I should go to. And I mean that in a good way. There were EliteXC and Showtime personnel everywhere.

The EliteXC and Showtime crew were extremely courteous and friendly. Yes, I realize I work for ProElite.com and that puts me in a unique position, but from what I saw, all of the other credentialed media, fighters, and trainers received the same treatment as I did. Some of them weren’t happy with their vantage point (understandably so), but I won’t get into that because the beauty of having a press pass is that you can pretty much go wherever you want if you’re not tied down to a lap top (but even then you can still move around if you have wireless).

If you’ve read my reviews of EliteXC shows, you know that if there’s one thing I believe they are doing right it’s that they are putting on strong live shows. Seeing EliteXC and Showtime operate last night gave me some insight as to why the shows come off as well as they do, which is that there is plenty of staff on hand to ensure details aren’t forgotten, thus allowing everything to operate efficiently.

So I believe EliteXC has a good handle on the execution of the actual show. However, I really think that level of execution needs to transcend over for when it comes to the planning of the shows. So far, EliteXC has been late in finalizing cards and allowing themselves an optimum amount of time to get tickets on sale early and give themselves plenty of time to market the shows. The UFC just about has cards booked through May. And I mean, it feels like we’ve been talking about Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir for about six months now. I just don’t understand why EliteXC can’t be on the ball like that? It’s certainly not a case of them not having good people on board or not having enough of them. Without knowing for sure, my guess is that they need to streamline their internal process of finalizing cards.

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